Timeline: The 100-Year History Of The Electric Car

November 21, 2011 4:31 AM ET

The electric car was just as popular as its gasoline counterpart when it first went into production around the turn of the 20th century. People loved it because it was much less messy than an internal combustion engine. But with the advent of highways, they wanted to go farther than their battery life allowed, and the electric car fell out of use. Today, new electric cars in the market face a similar challenge as consumers admire their cleanliness but balk at their limited range.